University of Illinois Life Online

YouTubers of the Month: February 2018

This month, we are focusing mainly on smaller YouTubers who make content with a purpose. Vloggers are always fun to watch, but lately I have been more interested in watching channels that can teach me something as well as entertain me. Given that, here are my five top picks for February 2018.

Minimalist, vegan, zero waste, and a female health champion? Yes, please! Aside from making eclectic YouTube videos, Victoria creates courses on women’s health (specifically, menstruation) and is the founder of femmehead.com! She produces a wide array of content to choose from, so if you are interested in any of the above mentioned topics, definitely check her out!

I first found her through this video about morning pages, a daily creative writing practice:

Caitlin is a college student whose videos focus on what she eats in a day and veganism on a budget. The first series I ever saw from her was about living on $7.50 a week, which is the extreme poverty level for many people in America. I love that she is raising awareness through this experiment and how she tried to be as creative as she could with that tight budget. She also has an e-book with a bunch of vegan recipes she created, all of which are extremely healthy, budget friendly, and delicious!

Are you interested in being a productive potato instead of a couch potato? Enter Rowena Tsai! This powerhouse works a full-time job, flips clothes online as a side hustle, and posts multiple videos every week. She focuses mainly on self-growth content in a way that moves beyond the inspiring fluff we see so often and is actually applicable advice.

If you like Rowena’s content, you’re probably going to become equally as infatuated with Lavendaire. Aileen focuses on personal development through her videos, as well as entrepreneurship and wellness for young women. She is transparent in her entrepreneurship journey, freely sharing how she organizes and develops each project instead of guarding her tools like some creators do.

Zero-waste lifestyles are one trend you SHOULD follow. Learn some beginner’s tips with her video:

Josephine’s channel is a special one to me that I only discovered a few weeks ago. Scouring YouTube for zero waste inspiration, I stumbled across a video she made with a friend with some easy swaps for beginners. Later, I came across another one of her videos, a “Get to Know Me” tag, and became totally smitten with her channel. She doesn’t post very often anymore, as she’s currently undergoing surgeries and treatment for a brain tumor, but her videos always make me feel something. She has a series on her tumor, what chemo feels like, and how she deals with it at such a young age.

This stunning video shows her happy place, the one she hangs onto during surgeries: